by Baron Sord
Something called LitRPG.
What followed was a firestorm frenzy of me reading everything and anything I could find that was LitRPG, starting with Survival Quest by Vasily Mahanenko. Then I found Ramon Mejia’s podcast and Royal Road. Sword Art Online and Log Horizon followed. Curious, I went back to the source and read Legendary Moonlight Sculptor by Nam Hi-Sung. Even dipped way back to 1993 and read KilloByte by Piers Anthony (he must’ve been playing MUD and watching the original Westworld with Yul Brynner (on VHS) when he wrote it…). Then I found Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko, whose use of stats made me moan like Homer Simpson eating a doughnut. “Staaaaa-aaaaaaaats…” Drool. And I can’t forgot Eden’s Gate by Edward Brody, because I always want to know the stats of monsters. Don’t you?
That’s right, stats, stats, frickin’ mother-fluffing STATS!!
After all that research, it became clear my first fantasy novel would be LitRPG.
And thus, Reternity Online was given the form it deserved.
Thank you, Online Jungle Superstore, for dangling LitRPG under my nose like a plate of blow under the nose of a cocaine addict.
Now I am hooked.
If you’re wondering why I didn’t use “Sew-dook-cha” stats in Reternity Online, it was because I’ve been a frustrated pen & paper game designer ever since someone handed me a tattered copy of the D&D Basic Set blue book rules (the 1977 Holmes/Gygax Basic rules mentioned in the book, the one with cover art by David C. Sutherland III, not the 1981 red cover version with art by Erol Otus, which is right next to the Holmes version on my D&D bookshelf). I’ve been fascinated by how to design Player Character attributes ever since. Somewhere between the elegance of 2 simple stats (Body and Mind, thank you FUDGE) and the complexity of Ars Magica or Pathfinder (both of which I love) was a happy balance that would work for a novel. And it had to be base 10 (thank you Nam Hi-Sung, Aleron Kong, and Edward Brody).
Why?
Because, like the nerd I am, I have an Excel spreadsheet, similar to the one Qoorie mentioned in this book when she was busting Ty’s balls for him being a numbers nerd. I used my spreadsheet to calculate all of Logan’s bonuses as he leveled up throughout the story (and Ty’s, Qoorie’s, Walter’s, Layna’s, etc.). I couldn’t just make up random numbers for Dodge bonuses to Armor rating, or Strength + Endurance calculations for Health, could I?
Hell no!
All the stats you read in the book are consistent. Every PC’s Mana (Or Mind or Health or Stamina) were calculated using the same spreadsheet formulas. I’m sure I’m not the only LitRPG author who does this.
So here we are.
Stats, stats, stats. And a whole lotta fantasy action thrown in.
Thank you for reading my very first fantasy novel. I hoped you liked reading Reternity Online : Book 1 : Rescue Quest as much as I loved writing it. Until we meet again, I will be working furiously on Reternity Online : Book 2 : Escape the Dark Kingdom. We have to know what happens to Layna, right? And we’ll finally meet Jason’s girlfriend Mali, a.k.a. Eliza Nightshade. Spoiler Alert: she’s badass. She’ll also be part of the team that goes looking for Layna, so you’ll get equal doses of girl power alongside the guys. And best of all, we’ll get a grand tour of all things that are the Dark Kingdom!
In the mean time, if you want an opportunity to win a signed paperback copy of Book 1 : Rescue Quest, or you want to see some of the monster art I created for some of the monsters in this book (coming soon), or you just want to be notified when Book 2 is released, join my mailing list here:
baronsord.com/newsletter-adr
Last but not least, if you liked Reternity Online,
Please leave a review online!
Every review posted online goes a long way to helping inform other fans of D&D, Neal Stephenson, and Stephen King that there is in fact a book out there that crams all of that wordy goodness into one thick read. And on that note,
THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!
Baron
